Traditional electrical power cables typically comprise large gauge copper conductors with a circular cross-section. However, such power cables are heavy, difficult to bend and have a high material cost directly related to the rising cost of copper metal.
Cost and weight efficient aluminum power cables are known. To deliver the same current capacity an aluminum power cable requires an increased cross-sectional area. As the diameter of a power cable increases with increasing power capacity, the bend radius of the power cable increases.
An electrical cable comprising a plurality of flat conductors arranged in a stack has numerous advantages over a conventional circular cross-section copper power cable. Because the desired cross-sectional area may be obtained without applying a circular cross-section, an improved bend radius may be obtained. If desired, the significant improvements to the bend radius enables configuration of the cable with increased cross-sectional area. This increased total cross-sectional area, without a corresponding increase in the minimum bend radius characteristic, may also enable substitution of aluminum for traditional copper material, resulting in materials cost and weight savings.
In addition to the aluminum versus copper material cost savings, the weight savings for an electrical cable with aluminum conductors installed upon a radio tower may be especially significant, as an overall weight savings enables a corresponding reduction in the overall design load of the antenna/transceiver systems installed upon the radio tower/support structure. Further, the improved bending characteristics of the flexible electrical power cable may simplify installation in close quarters and/or in remote locations such as atop radio towers where conventional bending tools may not be readily available and/or easily applied. Because complex stranding structures which attempt to substitute the solid cylindrical conductor with a woven multi-strand conductor structure to improve the bend radius of conventional circular cross-section electrical power cables may be eliminated, required manufacturing process steps may be reduced and quality control simplified.
However, compared to well known methods of materials provision/delivery and/or manufacture for conventional circular cross-section conductors, significant manufacturing issues may arise during flat conductor cable manufacture.
Competition within the electrical power transmission cable and in particular the Remote Radio Head systems market has focused attention upon reducing materials and manufacturing costs, providing cost efficiencies for radio tower electrical power delivery and overall improved manufacturing quality control.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide methods of manufacture for an electrical power cable that overcome deficiencies in such prior art.